A Book Review: Enchanted

"My name is Sunday Woodcutter, and I am doomed to a happy life."

I recently read this book for a book club, and really enjoyed it. The book was a little hard for me to get into at first, but after I got past the first few chapters it was a good, interesting read. 

Enchanted is about a girl named Sunday Woodcutter, the seventh of seven daughters in her family. As you might have guessed, her sisters' names are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. :)

Enchanted  is a fairytale, but not your ordinary fairytale. The author, Alethea Kontis, weaves many of the classic fairy tales in the story (The Frog Prince, Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Jack and The Beanstalk), but Enchanted is still its own, unique fairy tale. 

If you are like me and are rather fond of fairy tales and romances, you will like Enchanted. :)  It's a light, easy read without being too juvenile, and Ms. Kontis' writing is descriptive and flows well.

To sort of give you a taste of this book, here is the back cover's summary: (is that what you would call it...?)

"What are you doing?"

Sunday's head snapped up from her journal. She had chosen this spot for its solitude, followed the half-hidden path through the underbrush to the decaying rocks of the abandoned well, sure that she had escaped her family. And yet, the voice that had interrupted her thoughts was not familiar to her. Her eyes took a moment to adjust, slowly focusing on the mottled shadows the afternoon sun cast through dancing leaves. 

"I'm sorry?" She posed the polite query to her unknown visitor in an effort to make him reveal himself, be he real of imagined, dead or alive, fairy or--

"I said, 'What are you doing?'"

--frog.

 

Book Review: Storybound

I just finished reading Storybound by Marissa Burt. 

In a nutshell, Storybound is about a twelve-year-old girl named Una Fairchild who, while reading a mysterious book that she discovered in her school's basement library, becomes "sucked" into the book.

When I was telling my grandpa what the book was about, I said, "it's not as babyish as I made it sound."  :) 

My brief summary of the plot in a little more detail...

 Once she arrives in the book, Una finds herself in the land of Story, where the characters from books live. She befriends a boy named Peter and a cat named Sam and soon discovers that she has been "Written In" to Story by someone, the identity of this person unknown to them. Una and Peter soon discover that some "fishy" things have been happening in Story, and they begin the adventure of trying to solve the mystery of Story. 

I really liked this book; when I first started reading I didn't know how I would feel about it, but I ended up enjoying it. Marissa Burt's writing was interesting and kept my attention, and the plot had several twists and turns, which I always like. :) 

Reading Storybound reminded me once again of how satisfying (not to mention exciting!) writing a story would be for me. It inspired me, I guess you could say.

 The author, Marissa Burt

Overall, this book was cute and interesting; it was funny to me that characters from classic fairy tales were mentioned (abstractly) in the book. It was also interesting for an author to imagine what the lives of characters from stories might be like when they were children, learning about being in a Tale. It was cute.

I really liked Stroybound. It's a fun read, though it does have its moments of seriousness, too.

I can't wait to read the sequel (which is coming out soon), Story's End (oh, no! Story will end?! I have got to read it and find out what happens! :))

A Baby & A Rose

Welcome, Haley!

My third sister, Haley Dawn, was born on Tuesday, March 12, 2013 at 1:33 in the afternoon.

She weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz. and was 19 1/2 in. long.

Megan is a proud big sister! 

Isn't she cute?!

We are all in love with this new addition to our family and are very thankful to God for her little life.

Welcome, Haley Dawn! We love you!

Thoughts of a Writer: Creating the Character(s)

  Creating the characters in my story is definitely the most fun for me. I love being able to form them any way I want: their strengths, weaknesses, goals, families, pasts, the situations they find themselves a part of. I always get ahead of myself and imagine the heroine/hero of my story--what they look like, their passion(s), their disposition, etc.--before I come up with a plot, an adventure for her/him to go on. I don't know if that is how a lot of you do it, but I always end up doing that.

Anne from Anne of Green Gables

 Anne is quite the character, isn't she?

  Have you ever seen the movie Miss Potter? It's a movie about Beatrix Potter and how she became a writer and illustrator. It's a good movie. Anyways, there are parts in the movie where Beatrix is drawing Peter Rabbit or her other animal characters, and they will begin moving around on the page before her. She  will then talk to them; scold Peter for moving while she was trying to finish drawing him, tell the little mice not to bicker so (the second one was just an example I made up :)). The point is, her characters were real to her. They were so real that she could see them moving and would even talk to them like they were actually real animals.

Emma from Jane Austen's Emma

Thoughts of a Writer: Developing a Plot

I have always enjoyed writing, and it's been a dream of mine for a few years now to someday write a novel.

 I don't know about you, but one of my biggest obstacles in writing anything fiction is the plot. And not just a plot, but a good plot, too. One with twists, turns, excitement, suspense and a little...predictability as well. Figuring out the right balance is essential to forming any good story, I know. I also know that developing an interesting, thorough plot just takes practice, and can be time consuming and sometimes frustrating to any author.

 One thing I've found that helps me are writing prompts. Now I realize that if any of you are more of a professional writer or have no trouble coming up with a wonderful plot all on your own, you probably are laughing and shaking your head at my lack of creativity. ;)

 But if are like me and need inspiration to spur you on, I found some one-sentence writing prompts that I wanted to share here. Maybe they will get your creative juices flowing, as well.

1. It was the first snowfall of the year.
2. He hadn’t seen her since the day they left High School.
3. The city burned, fire lighting up the night sky.
4. Silk.
5. She studied her face in the mirror.
6. The smell of freshly-cut grass.
7. They came back every year to lay flowers at the spot.
8. The streets were deserted. Where was everyone? Where had they all gone?
9. This time her boss had gone too far.
10. Red eyes.
11. Stars blazed in the night sky.
12. He woke to birdsong.
13. ‘Shh! Hear that?’ ‘I didn’t hear anything.’
14. He’d always hated speaking in public.
15. She woke, shivering, in the dark of the night.
16. The garden was overgrown now.
17. He’d never noticed a door there before.
18. She’d have to hitch a ride home.
19. ‘I told him not to come back too!’
20. His feet were already numb. He should have listened.

 Right now, I am currently working on just beginning the process of writing a novel. I am sometimes discouraged by how long, tiring and tedious writing is; first there's the plot, the character development, tweaks to the plot and the characters, writing, re-writing, re-writing some more, editing and etc.

 I have a friend who is currently working on a novel and I have had the privilege of helping her with all of these steps and seeing the process firsthand, and it's not easy! But I know that if you are passionate about writing, it is all worth it in the end. I know I can do this, but who knows how long it will take me! I have heard of authors who spent years working on just one story...I wonder how much their stories changed from the first idea to the end result?I wonder how many ideas I will have and rough drafts I will write between now and the finished product?

 I am excited to begin this process, and to be sure, you all will probably hear from me again on this subject. :)

What gives you inspiration to write? 

Do you have any tips for good plot development? 

What is one of the most challenging aspects for you when writing?

The first post (here goes...)

Hello, and welcome to my new blog, Perfectly Imperfect. 

(I like oxymorons... ;))

I am starting this blog because I want a place to record my random thoughts, pictures, book/movie reviews, etc. I hope you'll come along for the ride and maybe even leave a comment now and then. :)

I pray that my writings on this blog will glorify and honor my Heavenly Father. 

Until next time....